Gabriel Batistuta at 50: celebrating seven of his greatest goals

Was there a more exotic footballer in the 1990s than Batigol? This collection of his best goals suggests not

By Emmet Gates for The Gentleman Ultra

The 1990s was perhaps the last great decade for centre-forwards. With coaches yet to shift to one-striker systems, variations of 4-4-2 were the norm across Europe. The decade was full of lethal strikers. Marco van Basten was king at the start of the 1990s; Ronaldo was phenomenal towards the end; and Romario, George Weah, Jürgen Klinsmann and Alan Shearer sprinkled some magic in between. But nobody stayed the course like Gabriel Batistuta.

Batistuta arrived left Boca Juniors for Fiorentina in 1991 and hit double figures in the league in each of the next 10 season. He was top scorer in Serie A with 26 goals in the 1994-95 season, which might not sound extraordinary in the age of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but was the gold standard of world football back then.

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